The mother of the girl attacked by the shops said her daughter was walking to the shops with a friend when she was attacked by a group of eight girls who recorded the assault with a cellphone.
"A car pulled up and tooted the horn and they dispersed," she said. "I think the woman who beeped stopped what could have been an even worse beating."
The mother picked up her daughter and took her home before confronting the group.
"I found them and asked them what gave them the right to lay their hands on my daughter like that and then they started circling me. They circled me like a pack of wolves, swearing and yelling 'b****'," she said.
The mother was able to break free and phone the police. She said her daughter suffered bruises on her back, a black eye, swollen nose and a fat lip and was afraid to walk anywhere.
"I have to pick her up and drop her off now.
"She is afraid and embarrassed," she said. "It is disgusting." The principal of the school the victims attended was aware of the attack outside the school grounds but not the attack near the shops.
Two of the girls who are believed to have been involved in the incident outside the school grounds were former students.
"The only saving grace was there were five staff there to help and some of our kids yelled for them to get off her [the victim]."
The principal had advised the victim's parents to contact police.
"We feel extremely sorry for that child and our thoughts are with the young lady. I would love to protect all of my kids but I just cannot.
"We have no reason as to why this has happened. It is scary."
He said the school's hands were tied because both of the alleged attacks happened outside school grounds.
Western Bay of Plenty area manager of investigations and Tauranga Police detective Senior Sergeant Greg Turner said police had received a report of a girl being assaulted by another youth last week.
A 14-year-old girl had been referred to Youth Aid in relation to the assault.
"Police are currently making inquiries into the incident, and as this is ongoing police cannot provide further comment for operational reasons," he said.
"Anyone who finds themselves in a situation where they feel unsafe should contact police immediately by calling 111."
A police spokeswoman said police were aware of a similar incident in the same area about 5.30pm on October 20.
Inquiries were ongoing. However, it was too early to say whether the incidents were connected.
It comes a day after the Bay of Plenty Times reported on a school bullying case in which a high school student was held down and shot in the leg with a BB gun by bullies who later joked about the incident on social media.
The Year 9 boy who has mild Asperger's Syndrome was also roughed up in Tauranga Boys' College toilets and "tormented" on the way home.
